"I'd rather do this than talk about music any day of the week," says Daniel Kessler, the guitarist for Interpol. We're sitting at the chef's counter ofAldea, George Mendes's 17th Street restaurant, and Kessler is taking a break from promoting the band's new album, El Pintor. For a dude who's in a band that's known for brooding, Kessler's enthusiasm for restaurants is almost surprising. While trying to schedule the dinner, he quickly offered a full index of restaurants he wanted check out: Bâtard, Contra,Sushi Yasuda, Racines, and élan among them. “I’m a little OCD about stuff," Kessler says. "So once something’s on my brain I’m like, I must go and do. It’s very Rain Man-esque."

AldeaPrice: $85 for three courses or $50 for children 12 and under, optional wine pairing for $45George Mendes’s first restaurant will give Thanksgiving a few Portuguese flourishes. Appetizers include mussel soup with chorizo and shiitake and chanterelle mushrooms with Benton’s bacon. For your entrée, you can try something different with salt cod with white corn pudding, or keep it classic with a turkey plate. Dessert means fried apple pie, pumpkin biscuit cake, and housemade ice creams and sorbet.

Seven is the lucky number at Aldea (31 W. 17th St.) in Union Square. Michelin-starred chef George Mendes is celebrating seven years of churning out modern Portuguese dishes with a special new menu. The Seven Signature Bites menu lets guests try a small taste of standouts like the sea urchin toast and charcoal grilled octopus. Diners choose any three items for $21, five for $35 or all seven for $49. The menu is available indefinitely.

"I'd rather do this than talk about music any day of the week," says Daniel Kessler, the guitarist for Interpol. We're sitting at the chef's counter ofAldea, George Mendes's 17th Street restaurant, and Kessler is taking a break from promoting the band's new album, El Pintor. For a dude who's in a band that's known for brooding, Kessler's enthusiasm for restaurants is almost surprising. While trying to schedule the dinner, he quickly offered a full index of restaurants he wanted check out: Bâtard, Contra,Sushi Yasuda, Racines, and élan among them. “I’m a little OCD about stuff," Kessler says. "So once something’s on my brain I’m like, I must go and do. It’s very Rain Man-esque."